SourceKERALA, INDIA, July 16, 2004: Hindu homes and temples in Kerala resonated with the recital of the Ramayana, as Karkitakam, the lean month of the Malayalam calendar, began on July 16. Mornings and evenings, the faithful gather at temples to recite the Adhyatma Ramayanam Kilippattu of Thunchath Ezhuthachan, the father figure of Malayalam literature. The entire text is read in…
SourceINDIANA, U.S.A., July 8, 2004: When a groom from Indiana and a bride from India decided to get married, ABC News convinced the couple to have their wedding aired on TV. So in October 2003, Tim Searight and Rupa Goswami celebrated their Hindu-Christian ceremony under the watchful eye of TV viewers. The TV crew assured Goswami that they would be…
SourceLONDON, ENGLAND, July 19, 2004: The BBC has announced plans for a new complaints procedure to make it easier for people to air grievances about programs and get mistakes corrected. The BBC promised greater openness and said licence payers would be presumed to be right, not wrong, in complaints. Director general Mark Thompson said there would be a greater willingness…
SourceKAUAI, HAWAII, July 19, 2004: An HPI reader asks, “I’m writing you to know if there is any website available for Vedas where one can read and even satsang and prathana where you can download and listen to it.” If you’re aware of such a site, please e-mail “source” above.
SourceDELHI, INDIA, July 15, 2004: The Ministry of Non-Resident Affairs announced today in the Rajya Sabha that the net amount of remittances sent by NRIs from different parts of the world during 2003-04 was US$18,885 million in terms of private transfers as compared to $14,807 million US $ in 2002-03.
SourceLEICESTER, ENGLAND, July 17, 2004: A call has gone out for Leicester’s entire Hindu community to help create a magical time at a major festival next month. More than 10,000 people are set to visit Leicester for the Get Connected Extravaganza 2004 which will showcase every aspect of Hindu life. Launching preparations for the event yesterday, organizers called on the…
SourceAMRITSAR, INDIA, July 12, 2004: Kamal Kishore is out to prove that he can do the impossible. A devout Hindu, this 44-year-old handloom worker living in Amritsar has started a 675-km-run to the holy shrine of Amarnath, 12,500 feet above sea level. This would seem ordinary to most, but Kamal plans to achieve this feat in one week, clocking on…
SourceLONDON, ENGLAND, July 16, 2004: A leading footwear company of London, which displayed the sacred Om symbol on its sandals, has apologized to Hindus and withdrawn the sale of the product after the community members protested against the “insensitive” depiction. “I take this opportunity to apologize on behalf of Lacey’s Footwear for any offence or hurt the design on the…
ReutersKATHMANDU, NEPAL, June 23, 2004: Now a “sweating” icon of Bhima, the second Pandava, is troubling Nepal amid a bloody revolution launched in the name of the great Communist icon, Mao Zedong. The stone image began dropping ” beads of sweat” on Tuesday at the renowned Bhimeshwar temple in the eastern town of Dolakha that earlier served as a trade…
SourceJOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, July 12, 2004: South African children got a glimpse of Hindu rituals and the rationale behind them at a temple here in an event aimed at fostering cross-cultural understanding. Children of devotees at the Swaminarayan Temple joined many others, including some invited from homes in Gauteng, to share the diversity and depth of culture in South Africa.…